Chapter 121

...When the dungeon opened, you were so excited that you just said anything. Only the rustling sound of a body curling up passed between the two people who had closed their mouths.

The clever Han Tae-un couldn't have been unaware of such circumstances. He must have been holding back a lot. Because he couldn't press Soram for answers in this situation.

"..."

And Soram also didn't have the energy to think of lies or excuses right now.

Instead, taking advantage of the deep darkness that had come to his mind, a thought that had been hiding came out through his lips.

"I thought being alone was the best option, but..."

His injured hand tightly grasped Tae-un's clothes.

"Being together seems a little nice too."

If he had been alone, this current anxiety would have lessened, but he would have been terribly lonely.

"That's enough."

Tae-un covered Soram's eyes more closely. Soram moved his lips but couldn't say anything more and fell asleep.

After confirming that his breathing had become steady, Tae-un carefully slid his hand to the side of his face. With his eyes closed, Soram looked small and weak, as if it was a lie that he had been wielding a sword and fighting in the lava-surrounded hell. He stared at that face for a long time and carefully covered the wound on his cheek.

A small white aura rippled in front of the wound. Soon, Tae-un felt a stinging sensation on his cheek. When he removed his palm, the wound on Soram's face remained the same. However, the pain had been transferred to Tae-un.

Tae-un then brought his hand to the wound on Soram's forearm. It was a place that had been burned and also punctured by something like small pieces of rock. When he lightly grasped the arm, the same sense of unease he had felt from Soram's palm wound before came again. At that moment, Soram turned his body.

"What are you doing...?"

"Ah, sorry."

"You should sleep soon too."

"Okay."

Tae-un withdrew his hand and quietly sighed. Then he looked down at his own palm with a complicated expression.

A little later, he covered Soram's head with his own share of the blanket and headed to the sofa on the opposite side. Tae-un, who didn't want to wake Soram again, gave up on his plan to pull the sofa closer and just lay down in that spot.

However, when he had completely fallen asleep, someone who had woken up with sleepy eyes wrapped his sofa in a blue mist and pushed it right next to Tae-un's sofa.

***

7:00 a.m., 19 hours after the dungeon outbreak.

The black mountain had grown even larger overnight. The weather covered in volcanic ash and water vapor was still gloomy. The black island, which had gradually increased in volume, was now only a few steps away from the beach. The lava hardly flowed into the distant sea and only poured in the direction of Busan, and the island created by the solidified lava also increased in volume only in that direction.

The unnaturally concentrated eruption on one side was evidence that the rift had a nature of destroying humanity. Foreign media outlets competed to report satellite photos of the strange-shaped volcano with a much longer ridge on the land side and a steep sea side.

Meanwhile, in domestic politics, they continued a sluggish fight over whether they should send hunters from all over the country for an all-out war or protect their jurisdictions in preparation for the collapse of Busan, unable to reach a conclusion. Upon hearing the news, Branch Director Shin Gi-hyeon shouted, asking if they were crazy when everyone inside was dying.

Regardless of the outside situation, inside the barricade was still a dark red hell.

The battle began again inside.

1st-grade hunters had excellent recovery abilities to match their strength. Even though everyone was tattered, it was them who stood at the front, accumulating some stamina in a short time.

Among them, Soram headed to the very front. The sword raised high above drew a large arc over the head of a lava mutant. Five paper airplanes, two more than the previous day, flew around him as he kicked the air.

'As I thought...'

It was now certain. When the magic stone scratched the body, the ability level temporarily increased. The principle needed to be investigated, but there were few side effects for this level of increase. There was only a brief hallucination and dizziness right after the injury.

However, most of the hunters, except for Soram, had significantly lower energy compared to yesterday. The front line against the lava, which they had defended at the cost of their lives, was gradually pushed back, and now the position where they stood was closer to the barricade than to the coast.

20 hours after the rift outbreak. It was close to the time when the lull had come in the first life. Perhaps it was expected to come around this time, but contrary to that expectation, the lull still seemed far away.

This one-sided fight and endurance crushed the hunters' will with fear. No one would have experienced such a powerless and endless fight.

"Aaaah!"

A scream was heard from beyond the building. When Soram swiftly crossed over in that direction, a hunter was trapped on the ground between the lava that was narrowing the encirclement. He quickly flew over, grabbed the hunter's arm, and lifted him up.

"Haa, ah..."

"Jin Soram. Hand him over."

Seo Min-ki, who had teleported, grabbed the hunter's other arm. After moving the hunter to the rear, Min-ki returned and advanced forward side by side with Soram, cutting down the mutants.

Sizzle― Thud, slash―

Min-ki's expression was completely different from yesterday, but his originally sharp attacks of striking and retreating were recklessly aggressive to an unusual degree.

"Jin Soram."

In the midst of relentlessly cutting down the lava mutants, he called out to Soram.

"...I'm not blaming you, but maybe it would have been better if I had gone into the sea at the beginning and dealt a blow to the rift."

"Don't talk nonsense. If you had entered the seawater at that temperature, you would have died instantly."

"I'm a 1st-grade body, so I could have endured it for a bit. Even if I couldn't destroy it, if there was a gap to narrow..."

Soram stopped attacking for a moment and looked to the side. The complexion that came into view was the worst he had ever seen. Feeling his gaze, Min-ki bit his lips until they turned white.

"...Too many of our team members died yesterday."

...Ah.

Min-ki had an expression of barely standing with his breath choked. It was probably the reaction of an ordinary 26-year-old, and Soram would have been the same when living his first life.

"Seo Min-ki. Right now, don't think about it."

"I know. If we can't stop the Great Rift, I won't be able to hold my head up at the funeral."

Min-ki confided in his friend the words he couldn't bear to say to the remaining team members and the people of the branch who regarded him as their ace, and tightly gripped his sword with his roughened palm.

"Jin Soram, don't you die. Even if you have to abandon this place and run away, live."

He moved to the front of the battlefield without waiting for an answer.

"...That's the thing our team hates to hear the most."

Soram also kicked the ground and advanced forward.

10:00 a.m., 21 hours after the dungeon outbreak.

The sea was turbulent. The red lava riding on the waves also rose and fell endlessly. As the black mountain increased in volume and approached closer, the intensity of the lava also became fiercer.

"...Yeah, damn it. Those big waves yesterday were high tide."

The large waves that had surged in the previous day, carrying a lot of lava, undulated again far out at sea. However, now even the buildings they had taken shelter in yesterday had all collapsed, and the remaining buildings were so heavily damaged that it was uncertain whether they could withstand the lava-carrying waves without collapsing.

―To the rear! Retreat quickly!

Leaving behind the ground overshadowed by a huge shadow, the hunters hurriedly fled. As if in sync with the sound of the surging waves, a rumbling sound came from the cloudy sky.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh―!!!!!

The waves poured over the ruins. The high wall created by toppling apartments and buildings the day before was easily overrun by the torrent.

The damage from being directly swept away by the waves was not significant, as they had chosen to flee from the beginning rather than to endure.

Grrrk, grrk―…

The problem was that the lava, which had invaded deeper into the land than the previous day, had risen less than 100m from the barricade, stuck between the collapsed debris of buildings. The lava that had accumulated between the fallen debris did not even flow down the slope.

"Ha..."

In front of the hunters who had barely survived the waves, lava mutants lined up densely like soldiers and approached.

"Damn it. Does this situation even make sense...?"

Whenever they barely overcome the worst situation, an even greater despair comes. The hunters who could move gripped their weapons tightly, and those who had run out of stamina held the firearms that had arrived hastily in the morning.

Swish―

The first to charge forward were seven paper airplanes. The eyes of the one controlling them were bloodshot.

If they endured for a few hours, the direction of the waves would change, and after that, low tide would come again. A few more hours after that, it would roughly match the time of the lull in the third life. The headquarters and each branch were also preparing for an all-out war.

We can endure it. Soram repeated to himself as if brainwashing himself.

Almost simultaneously with him kicking the ground, Tae-un also lifted his body without hesitation. He also flew through the sky and cut down the approaching lava mutants with a sword wrapped in a white aura. Then, from a different direction, black smoke from eliminated mutants fluttered. Seo Min-ki wielded two swords and shattered the cores of the mutants, and on the ground, Branch Director Shin Gi-hyeon eliminated the mutants one by one.

Following them, the hunters belonging to Busan Branch Team 1 ran into the battlefield. The deputy leader of Team 1 smiled at Lee Gyeong-in, who was advancing side by side.

"Gyeong-in, you're cool. I saw you in a new light."

"I have to go because Branch Director-nim's reprimand is scarier than the Great Rift..."

Even as he said that, his expression was determined as he joined the team members who had headed to the front without fail the day before.

2:00 p.m., 26 hours after the dungeon outbreak.

"Haa, ugh... haa, ha..."

The big waves had passed. They had also overcome the crisis when the sea level was at its highest, and the momentum of the mutants had subsided a little.

'Han Tae-un is...'

He focused his vision, blurred by the afterimages from seeing too many flames, and searched for Tae-un. He was confronting a mutant not far away. The suffering from overload and accumulated injuries was evident on his face, which was difficult to make out.

"Is he badly hurt...? Ugh!"

Without even a moment to approach him, new lava approached right in front of his face. His body, reacting abruptly, refluxed bitter blood from inside as if appealing to its limits. Tae-un must also be in a similar situation, unable to relax his expression.

He couldn't even keep his gaze on him. A new mutant surged up at his feet. While he was off guard, a long spark flew across the side of his face.

"Ugh...!"

Last summer, when he was going around in circles, avoiding Tae-un's heart, they were in bed together, but as soon as he barely acknowledged it, they were thrown into a battlefield, both covered in blood.

Swish―!

Now his body moved with instantaneous judgment and reflexes, not calculation. As a result, useless thoughts bloomed in his mind.

If we weren't hunters, would we be far from the barricade right now, watching this hell on a screen and just vaguely worrying? In front of the enemy right now, there's no room to even say it's scary, but in front of the TV, could he say it's scary and urge a comforting touch?

On the other hand, if he hadn't become a hunter, he would have been like a piece of baggage in the family of a member of the National Assembly, and that's an appearance he never wanted to show Tae-un. Then was it a good thing that he became a hunter? This current appearance…

Whichever option he chose, he didn't know why there was no conclusion where he could smile.

Whenever he was about to get tired, Soram looked in the direction where the white aura flickered. And he moved so as not to stray far from his surroundings. It was the same for Tae-un. The gazes that met once in a while, the lips that moved clearly in the midst of the chaos, saying, "Soram-ah, are you okay?" It seemed to tell him that the present was the happiest out of the four rounds so far.

Grrrk, grrk―…

Without even time to indulge in sentiments, new enemies appeared again.

"Haa..."

Of all things, the mutant was standing facing Tae-un. If Soram didn't eliminate it, it would go to him who was already dealing with two.

'The location of the core is the neck, and with a sword rather than a paper airplane...'

It was when he was standing up his body that seemed like it would collapse at any moment and forcibly lifting his arm that wouldn't move.

'...Ah.'

A cold wind passed by his cheek. The mutant that had tried to attack Soram had frozen like a rock. Then, with the sound of stepping on thin ice, a person descended from the air as if stepping on stairs.

Soram could tell what had happened from the moment the wind brushed past him.

...I really hoped he wouldn't come.

"I knew you would come."

"At this age and rank, I'm about to write a statement."

The posture of landing on the ground from the air was almost the same as Soram's. It was natural since Soram had learned and followed many things from him.

"Soram, you were fighting well."

"Yes, Director-nim."

It had always been like that in the previous lives too. Putting aside the sluggish debate about what would happen if something occurred in the metropolitan area while the director was away, Park Jae-seon headed to the scene even if he had to force his way. In every life, he had never left the headquarters later than Soram. Except for this time.

"..."

Seeing his face, the words Soram had been pushing back all along stirred in his mouth.

"My whole body hurts. There's not a single place that doesn't hurt. I'm badly injured. It's hard."

"I know. In this situation, Soram is more amazing than anyone else."

"..."

A cool chill touched the burned areas. It cooled the hot wounds a little. His face became hot in a different sense than when Tae-un looked at him.

"Rest even for a bit."

The director's special ability spread towards the mutants around Soram. The lava hardened and stopped moving, and the solidified mutants were cut by his sword.